1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to wheelchairs, and in particular, to battery support trays suitable for a wheelchair, as well as wheelchairs embodying battery support trays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional electrically driven wheelchairs normally carry one or two automobile-type wet cell batteries on a rigid tray which is mounted underneath the seat panel. In some instances, the batteries are supported directly on the tray, and the tray can be removed from the mounts on which it is seated so that the battery and tray assembly can be removed at one time. In other cases, the tray is fixedly secured to the wheelchair frame, and the batteries have to be removed from the tray before the tray assembly can be disassembled. In assemblies of this latter type, the batteries are typically enclosed in a carrier which is provided with handles.
In either of these prior known arrangements, the batteries have to be removed before the wheelchair can be folded. Thus, even if the basic wheelchair design is of the conventional, folding type, the provision of a battery tray extending between the side frames defeats the folding feature and requires that a complicated procedure be followed whenever one intends to store or transport the wheelchair.
In addition to the above noted disadvantage, prior art electrically driven wheelchairs exhibit several other shortcomings resulting directly from the mounting of the batteries on a tray underneath the seat. One of these drawbacks is the fact that the manufacture of wheelchairs of differing widths requires that different sized mounting trays be provided for the support of the batteries. Another shortcoming is that the low mounting of the batteries, which are generally quite heavy, makes it very difficult to remove or replace batteries whenever a battery wears out or whenever it is desired to fold the chair.